Particle.news
Download on the App Store
3 ARTICLES
·
2w ago

Navy Awards Boeing $931 Million to Extend Life of Up to 60 Super Hornets

The award sustains the carrier jet fleet by combining 10,000-hour life extensions with Block III avionics retrofits.

A U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet, assigned to the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, flies a mission over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, March 3, 2025. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jackson Manske)

Overview

  • Awarded on Dec. 16, 2025, the contract funds Service Life Modifications for up to 60 F/A-18E/Fs, taking airframes from 6,000 to 10,000 flight hours and upgrading Block II jets to Block III.
  • Block III enhancements add a large-area touchscreen cockpit, new computing and networking via DTP-N and TTNT, open mission systems, reduced signature measures, and the AN/ASG-34 IRST.
  • This batch builds on at least 125 Super Hornets already under SLM contracts across a Navy inventory of roughly 550 aircraft.
  • Three SLM lines—two in St. Louis and one at Fleet Readiness Center Southwest—provide a combined throughput of about 40 aircraft per year.
  • Boeing returned the first two SLM-upgraded jets ahead of schedule on June 27, 2024, and will continue modernization into the 2030s even as new-build production ends in 2027.